Derek Achong
A man from Penal has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for chopping his brother to death after he (the brother) repeatedly assaulted their 71-year-old mother.
Avalon Thompson, of Lachoos Road, Penal, was charged with murdering his brother Paul Mark Teeluck after he intervened in an altercation between him and their mother Dhanrajayia Thompson in 2017.
He was also charged with wounding with intent as their mother was chopped when she attempted to separate the brawling siblings.
He was recently allowed to plead guilty to the wounding and the lesser offence of manslaughter by provocation, based on a plea agreement with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) negotiated by his attorneys Ayanna Norville-Modeste and Makeda Derrick of the Public Defenders' Department.
In passing the sentence on Thompson this week, Justice Tricia Hudlin-Cooper accepted the 20-year starting sentence for manslaughter under the agreement.
He was left with the decade-long sentence after Justice Hudlin-Cooper applied a one-third discount for his guilty plea and a reduction based on the mitigating circumstances in the case, including that he showed remorse and was forgiven by his mother and relatives.
She decided on a six-year starting sentence for wounding but applied the guilty plea discount and a two-year deduction as she ruled that he had already completed the sentence on remand.
Thompson is expected to be released after serving a little over a year in prison as he was credited for the time he spent on remand before entering the guilty pleas.
The case stemmed from an incident at the family's home on August 15, 2017.
Teeluck reportedly initiated a physical altercation with his mother after returning home drunk from work.
Thompson came out of his bedroom and saw Teeluck holding his mother in a headlock and cursing her about her mother (their grandmother).
He did not intervene and went to lie down in a hammock outside.
He claimed that a while later he saw Teeluck throw a quantity of cash at their mother and instruct her to buy some cigarettes and a drink at a nearby shop.
Thompson reportedly spoke to his brother in their mother's absence and reminded him that she had recently suffered a stroke and was diabetic. He claimed that Teeluck threatened to kill him.
When she returned home and gave him a bag with the items, Teeluck grabbed her and started shaking her violently.
Thompson grabbed a cutlass and attacked Teeluck. Their mother was chopped in the melee as she got between the siblings to separate them.
He then called for an ambulance.
The case was prosecuted by Maria Lyons-Edwards and Aaliyah Lewis.
